


Coffee Shop Rescue

by SmartassUndertheMountain



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, MINOR DESCRIPTIONS OF VIOLENCE, Mostly Fluff, each chapter specifies any relevant warnings in the before chapter notes so please check those out!, occasional minor anxiety, older peter parker (early twenties)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2018-12-13 16:44:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11764098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmartassUndertheMountain/pseuds/SmartassUndertheMountain
Summary: What happens when Peter Parker is cornered by someone he has no interest in and a random stranger saves the day? How does Peter react to being rescued for a change? And how does Karma make everything fall into place?





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a meet cute! (I'm not 100% certain this qualifies, it might be more like a meet desperation?) Let me know what you think! I LOVE hearing from y'all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by: There’s a person bugging me and won’t stop, will you pretend to be my partner so they buzz off?
> 
> I have no idea which prompt list it came off of, I feel like I've seen it in multiple places though.

        _"Go to coffee shop" they said. “You’ll get lots of work done" they said. Last time I ever listen to them._ You were typing bitterly, your fingers slamming down onto the keyboard. Any more force and you might have broken the space bar. You had dimmed your screen and tilted your laptop so that hopefully the stranger who was sitting much too close to you, and slowly getting closer couldn’t see what you were typing. There was a businessman on your other side blocking your escape. He looked like he was almost done, so maybe he would leave soon. One could only hope.

        He tried engaging you in conversation, but you were not new to the world of unwanted male attention. You knew exactly what to do to attract the attention of any woman who might come to your rescue, a stranger who would suddenly become a long lost friend, a sister, a co-worker.

        Your shoulders stiffened, you turned your body away from him, kept your answers short and curt. 

        “So, what are you doing here?”

         “Working.”

        “What on?”

        “Work.”

        “Is that all you do?”

        “Yes.”

        “Want to tell me about it? Normally I read the paper here, but I’ve left it at home.”

        “It’s classified.” You refused to look at him and continued typing, though by this point it mainly nonsense and you would have to edit all once you got home. Classified. You laughed on the inside. Well, it wasn’t a total lie. Your clients’ edits were confidential, but they weren’t exactly government secrets.

        You glanced up, trying to spot someone to send the Pleading Eyes to. The look that signaled for help. The look almost every woman on the earth recognized. That’s when you saw it.

        Your Pleading Eyes mirrored across the shop from you. But they were coming from a young man, probably not much younger than you, who looked very uncomfortable with the young woman sitting next to him, leaning into his personal space. You weren’t sure he was sending out a help message on purpose, but it didn’t matter. His brown curly hair fell in his face as he tried to put a little more distance between himself and the woman who clearly was not going to back off any time soon. You were familiar with the predatory lean, the hand placed on his knee, the clear intent to get exactly what they wanted.

        The businessman beside you scooted out of his seat and your path was cleared. In seconds you had all but slammed your computer shut, slipped it in your bag, grabbed your cup, and were moving across the shop, leaving your unwanted suitor behind, calling after you. Luckily, he wasn’t the kind that chased after you.

        “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it’s you!” You smiled broadly as you made eye contact with the curly-haired man.

        “Oh, uh…” He was not familiar with being saved.

        “Y/N. Remember?” You raised an eyebrow, urging him mentally to go along with it.

        “Oh, of course! Yeah, from um…”

        “Summer camp.”

        “Right, yes. How could I forget!”

        “I don’t know. You’re too young for your memory to be going.” You held out your arms for a hug.

        He laughed and stood to hug you.

        "If you want out, then play along.” You felt him nod into your shoulder.

        “Hey, if you’re not busy, I’m about to head over to my parents; I’m sure they’d love to see you.”

        “Oh, um, yeah, that’d be great.” He turned and grabbed his jacket and coffee cup. “Uh, nice to meet you,” he said to the woman who was giving you a death glare, before letting you link arms with him and following you out the door.

        Once you were outside and a few storefronts down from the coffee shop you dropped his arm, but he swung around and threw his arms around your neck.

        “Thank you so much!”

        You put your arms around him and patted his back. “It’s no problem, I was escaping my own annoying pest.”

        He pulled back and looked at you, as if assessing how capable you were of saving someone. “You were really smooth in there. Is this something you’re used to?”

        “I imagine most women are in some way or another. Your eyes just screamed for help. Sometimes we all need a little rescuing.”

        “Is there anything I can do to thank you?”

        “Just keep an eye out for that look, and rescue someone else.”

        He chuckled. “I can do that. I’m Peter, by the way, Peter Parker.”

        You took the hand he offered. “Y/N Y/L/N.”

        “Oh, um, hang on a sec.” He dug through his jacket pockets and pulled out a card. “If I can ever do anything else to thank you. Or, uh, you know, if you just want to hang out or something.”

        You took it with a smile and pulled out your own card from the front pocket of your laptop bag. “In case you need rescuing again.”

        “Well, I hope it won’t take that to see you again.”

        “Use that card and find out. Have a nice day, Peter.”  You winked and turned to walk away, barely hearing him call out after you over the traffic.

        “You have a nice day, too, Y/N!”

 

 

 

        Peter looked down at the card in his hand. It was a clean and neat looking card. White background, blue writing with a slightly metallic look to it that declared you worked at University Press, low level editing. He tucked the card safely in his wallet, promising himself to call you the next day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I appreciate your kudos and comments very much!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A date is made, and drastic things happen. 
> 
>  
> 
> (Sparse, I know, but I don't want to give everything away, even though y'all are smart enough to guess what happens next.)

up, but hopefully sometime next week! I’m on a mobile so I’ll fix the format later!

 

 

         Hunching over your desk was the opposite of what you were supposed to do. You were supposed to have good posture, both feet on the floor, back straight, hands at the proper position on the keyboard. Well, you had the proper keyboard position, but the rest was a pointless fantasy. You were hunched, shoulders curving in, sitting on one of your legs. It was comfortable, but should anyone walk in you would look more like a college student than a copyeditor.

        You stood to stretch, intertwine your fingers together behind your back and stretch your arms out behind you to open up your chest which had been closed off for the better part of two hours now. The phone rang when you were rolling your neck, making it pop at a volume that made you question if this time you had finally managed to break your own neck.

        Sitting back down and leaning back to take full advantage of your lumbar support chair, you answered the phone with your Professional Voice.

        “Y/N Y/L/N, how can I help you?”

        “Hey, Y/N, it’s me. Um, Peter? From the coffee shop yesterday. You rescued me?” He sounded younger on the phone, and a bit nervous. But that was probably to be expected. You preferred to text someone you weren’t very familiar with, he probably did, too.

        “Hello, Peter. How are you?”

        “I’m good. You?”

        “Not too bad for a Thursday. Looking forward to the weekend.” Would he get the subtle hint?

        “Oh yeah? You got anything exciting planned?”

        “Well, I had thought I might marathon some Disney movies with my friend, but her girlfriend surprised her with a weekend getaway. I might watch a few without her though.”

        “Think you might have some time in between movies for dinner? Or lunch, or something? With me, I mean. Because you’ll probably have to eat at some point over the weekend, of course you will. Um, I’m going to stop talking now.”

        You had to bite your lips to keep from giggling, but the wide grin still spread over your face. Your free hand twirled a pen and you gripped it tightly as you thought of how to respond.

         “I think I can spare some time between _The Lion King_ and _Mulan_. How about Saturday, 6:30?”

        “Yeah, that sounds great. Fantastic. Um, do you like French food? There’s this little bistro a few blocks down from the coffee shop, Pierre’s?”

         “I’ve seen it. Always wanted to try it but I never seem to make it there.”    “Awesome. Meet you there?”

        “Sounds terrific, Peter. I look forward to it.”

        “Me, too. See you Saturday, Y/N.”

        “See you then. Bye, Peter.”

        “Bye.”

        You hung up the phone and did a small victory dance in your chair right as the intern that answered to you knocked on your open door. He gave you a funny look but handed you the files you had asked for and left without question. It didn’t matter. You had a date.

 

 

 

        Friday came and went quickly, and you were excited to get home and start planning what to wear for your date the next night. you would have plenty of time to pick out an outfit and get excited, without worrying about actually getting ready on time. You started going through your closet in your head, trying to match potential outfits. How fancy did a person dress for a first date at a French bistro? Were jeans and a blouse acceptable, or did you need to do a dress? Could you wear flats, or were heels more appropriate?

        You could make the walk back to your apartment on autopilot, not really having to put much thought into the turns, but usually you paid a little more attention than this walk home, either for the sake of people watching or for your your own safety - well, at least your sense of security. you lived in a relatively safe area, but bad things happen everywhere.

        With your mind in your closet, and your hand only loosely holding your pepper spray, you walked home, but two pairs of eyes watched you from the alley you were quickly approaching.        

        A girl, probably in her late teens or early twenties, college aged, reached out and tapped your arm, dragging you out of your thoughts.

        “Excuse me, I’m a little turned around, could you tell me how to get to this shop?”

        She held her phone out in front of you and you glanced at the map pulled up.     

        “Oh, yeah, sure, if you go down that way two blocks and make a right where you see that purple awning,” you pointed in the direction, back turned to the alley, “then go another, maybe three or four blocks, it should be on the right.”

        “Thanks. Come on, honey.” The cold sharp object at your throat made your body go stiff. “I don’t have much cash, but you can have it.” You thought about the pepper spray in your hand and wondered if you could move fast enough to get in position to spray it before the person behind you could slit your throat.

        It didn’t matter, the college girl pulled it from your hand as she yanked your bag off your shoulder. Well there went that plan. Okay, what order did they do it on Miss Congeniality? SING. Solar Plexus, Instep, Nose, Groin.

        You moved quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid all injury. When you buried your elbow into your assailant’s chest their jerk backwards sent the knife slicing into your skin, but you kept going. Better to risk an injury by fighting than submitting to what could be much worse.

        As you continued to SING the person who had grabbed you, you heard the college girl scream and the noise cut off prematurely, but you couldn’t look at whatever new threat you might have to deal with because you weren’t finished with the one in front of you.

        The one that grabbed, that you now saw was a very muscular man, who looked like he could bench press a school bus, was rushing you, but before you could react, and before he could reach you, his legs were ripped out from under him and in a blink he was dangling by his feet from the side of the building, mouth covered with something white. You looked around, breath coming fast, eyes wide open in search of what you had to deal with next and spotted the college girl stuck to the wall opposite her accomplice, mouth also covered. You spun around again, and came face to face with something red and blue entirely too close to you. You started to back away, voice lost to fright and adrenaline. 

        “Hey there, whoa, now. Calm down, breathe. It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m Spider-man. Have you heard of me?” The masked man tilted his head to the side, hoping that you’d heard of Spider-man and knew he wasn’t a threat.     

        You nodded.      

        “Okay, good. ‘Cause having to explain this,“ he gestured to his costume, “to out-of-towners really sucks. Are you alright? How badly are you hurt?”

        You quirked an eyebrow. Hurt?

        “You look like your neck got a little cut on it.” Maybe not so little, but don’t want to freak her out. “Can I take a look at it?”

        The vigilante only stepped forward after you nodded your consent. You weren’t sure how he could see in that mask, or how the eyes widened and scrunched like real eyes do, but your mind wasn’t processing anything like it was supposed to.

        Gloved fingers reached up and gently pressed against your neck. “Tell me if I hurt you.” After a short examination he nodded, mostly to himself. “I think it will be okay. It’s not very deep. Might need some of those sterile strips, or butterfly bandages, but no stitches. I can web if you want, keep it covered until you can get it properly taken care of.”

         “Webbed?” Your voice sounded hoarse.

        “Yeah, like what’s holding them in place.” He jerked a thumb toward your assailants. “No one’s ever had an allergic reaction to it. A warm washcloth pressed against it will make it peel off pretty easily.”

        “Okay.”

        “Might want to close your eyes. It’s a little weird to watch, and it feels odd, but it won’t hurt. I promise.”

         You did as you were told, and felt the odd sticky, but not adhesive sticky, material cover the front of your neck.     

        “Okay, you can open ‘em now.”

        “Thank you, Spider-man.”

        “Hey, it’s no problem. This is what I do.” He used his web to snatch up your purse and pepper spray and handed them to you. “Can I walk you home? Or I can hang out with you here to wait for the police? I can swing away into the darkness? Whatever you want.”

         You thought for a moment. Calling the police was important, but you did not think you could handle it at the moment. “I want to go home.”

        “Okay, want me to walk with you?”

        You nodded, clutching your bag tightly to your chest, because it was solid, and real, and you were certain of it, while you hoped the last five minutes had all been a dream.

         “Don’t go anywhere. The cops will be here any minute.” He said to the two criminals, trussed up like a Christmas tree. He asked you for a piece of paper and a pen, and you pulled out the notebook you carried with you between work and home. He wrote the cops a note and webbed it to the one still dangling by his feet.Sirens sounded in the distance and Spider-man ushered you away, walking in the darker parts to hide his very noticeable outfit.

                   _These two were trying to rob a young woman._

_Don’t worry, she’s safe._

_Love, Spider-man._

        Spider-man walked you home, right to the door of your apartment building. He chatted along the way, which was fine because you had no desire to say anything. He talked about some tv show he’s been watching recently, and you had managed to say that you were surprised he had any time for tv, to which he laughed and said it was good for late at night when he couldn’t sleep. His mindless chatter was nice, constant, and his ability to be normal - a subjective term - after what you’d just been through helped calm you down.

      “This is me.” You said softly, stopping in front of your building. “Thank you, really. I - I could have… You saved me.”

      “I just assisted. You were handling them really well before I showed up.” It sounded like he was smiling, but you couldn’t be sure. “Well, I hope the rest of your weekend is better. Take it easy, and you can always call it in to the cops later if you want, to give a statement.”

      “Right. Thanks.”

      He nodded, gave a small salute, and swung off into the dark city. You stared after him for a moment, until he moved out of view. You went inside and, once you were in the apartment with the door shut and locked, you leaned against the door, a heavy sigh escaping you. With the adrenaline gone, your body felt exhausted.

      You forced yourself to move rather than just slide to the floor. You showered, peeled the webbing off your neck and cleaned the wound before rewrapping it with gauze, thinking that butterfly bandages might get ripped off if you tossed around too much as you slept. You crawled under the covers, wearing the most comfortable pajamas you owned, mind blissfully blank with exhaustion. The last thing that drifted through your mind before you fell asleep was that karma had come through for you. You saved Peter in the coffee shop, and then Spider-man had saved you in the alley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Airline hostess voice) Thank you for choosing SmartassUndertheMountain for you current Peter Parker x Reader needs. We hope to see you reading with us again soon. Please remember to leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed this fic!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for that first date! Or does someone need some alone time to cope?

         Saturday morning you woke up and stared at your ceiling, arms behind your head, under your pillow, sheets pushed down to your waist. You were wide awake, watching how the sun coming in around the edges of your curtains created patterns on the ceiling as the light reflected off the mirror. The gauze wrapped around your neck rubbed just enough when you shifted to remind you of the night before, and force the realization that it wasn’t just a bad dream.

         _Should I report it to the police? Would I have to testify? Was it worth it?_

         Throwing the covers the rest of the way off, you got up and shuffled to the bathroom. The blue and teal decor was relaxing, but not enough to quiet your mind.

         Changing the bandage wasn’t as easy as you had hoped. It had continued to bleed a little, and that blood had dried to the gauze, making it just painful enough to remove that you winced with each gentle pull. You weren’t able to avoid pulling off some of the scabbing, and the bleeding started again. Letting out a sigh, you redressed the wound, washed your face, brushed your teeth, and ran your hands through your hair before making your way to the kitchen.

 

 

         With cereal and spoon in hand, you made yourself comfortable on the couch and started flipping through channels until you landed on classic Saturday Morning Cartoons. Nothing like a near miss mugging to make a woman revert to childhood.

         You had no plans to do anything. At all. _Maybe_ you would straighten up around the apartment if you felt like being productive, but there was nothing that was going to get you out of your pjs.

         Wait.

         Damn.

         Your date.

         _Do I cancel? Postpone? ‘Hi, Peter, sorry, but I need a rain check because I was almost mugged and killed last night so I need to stay in and process everything.’ I mean, it’s a completely valid reaction, but there is no way I’m actually going to sit around processing anything, I’ll just make myself scared shitless thinking about it too much. No. A distraction will be good. If I stay home then I’ll just over-think everything._

         You nodded decisively to yourself. With that decision made, and breakfast eaten, you started tidying. You turned up the volume so you could hear your cartoons from all over the apartment, which wasn’t difficult in your small one bedroom. Of course, the smaller an apartment is, the easier it is to clean.

 

         By four-thirty, the apartment was clean, including the kitchen and bathroom, the dishes had been done, laundry had been washed and put away, and you were feeling accomplished. With your apartment clean, it was time for you to get cleaned up for your date.

 

 

 

         Peter was waiting for you when you got to the bistro - and you were still five minutes early. He smiled when he looked up and saw you, brown eyes sparkling. He wore dark wash jeans and a plaid button up shirt with a sports coat over it, and he looked really good in it. You hadn’t really noticed how nice his shoulders looked before. You were also relieved that you weren’t underdressed in jeans, and a flowery blouse with a cardigan over your arm in case it got cold. You wished the weather was colder so you could have worn a scarf, but you also weren’t about to sweat just to cover up a little gauze.

         He stood when you approached the table. He just looked so happy that you went in for a hug immediately. Not how you typically started a date, but you’d already hugged before, and you were in need of a hug after what happened the night before. If he was surprised he didn’t show it, and hugged you back.

         “Hey, Y/N.”

         “Hi, Peter. It’s good to see you.”

         “Good to see you, too. I’ve been looking forward to this.”

         “Me, too.”

         You sat and that’s when he noticed the white bandage standing out against your neck.

         “Um, you look great, but, I didn’t think that gauze was in fashion this season? Are you okay?”

         You nodded. “Yeah. I had a little run-in with some muggers last night, but I’m okay.”

         “Really? What happened? Or - well, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

         “No, it’s fine.” You started to tell him the story but the waiter came asking for your order. After ordering you continued, telling him that you were lost in your thoughts, and you actually used Miss Congeniality as your self defence technique, and how Spider-man swooped in and saved the day because, “if he hadn’t shown up I would have been out numbered and out muscled, and it could have gone a lot worse. All I’ve got is a little cut.”

         “Did you go to the hospital?”

         “No. It’s too small for that. I’ll be fine.”

         “If you say so. Wow. I’m really glad that you’re okay.”

         “Yeah, me, too. But, I just kinda want to put it behind me. I’m okay and there’s nothing that can change what happened.”

         “Understandable. Being able to move on is extremely important.”

         You nodded and glanced at the table, realizing that this date needed a more fun conversation. You looked up suddenly and smiled. “Well that got real deep, real fast. And we’ve talked about me way too much. I want to know more about you. Your card says you do photography. Tell me about it?”

         “Oh, sure, yeah, I could go on for hours about that, actually.”

 

 

         The dinner was fantastic. The company was better. You split the check. When he protested you told him you had a ‘split the check on every first date’ policy. He asked if you had any other policies about dating and you responded with a wink and a “I guess you’ll just have to find out.”

         Standing outside, you shrugged on your cardigan, and wondered what to say. You didn’t want the night to end, but you did need to get home; you had early morning plans with your brother, and you would need a lot of rest if you were going to explain your neck to him.

         “Do you want me to get you a cab? Or I can walk you home, if you’d like?”

         You pretended to think about it, failing to keep a small smile off your face. “You know, I’ve heard you’re supposed to take a walk after you eat. Something about being good for digestion, I think?” You said, taking his arm when he offered it.

         “I’ll take whatever excuse allows me to spend a little more time talking with you.”

         You actually had to look down at the ground in order to hide your goofy smile and blush. _It was a line! Get yourself together. Even if it was a good line._ “Alright, smooth talker.”

         “You’re probably the first person to call me smooth.”

         “Really?”

        “Really. I was such a nerd in high school. Got tripped up on my words when I talked to anyone even remotely attractive. Not that anyone worth dating wanted to go out with me. I was a total dork.”

         “Yeah. Same here.”

         “Now there is no way that can be true.”

         “Well, not entirely. There wasn’t anyone worth dating at all where I went. And yet half of them are married to each other by now. I’m not stable enough to have a dog, but these people are getting married, procreating, and shit? What the hell?”

         Peter barked out an infectious laugh that had you chuckling along. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t settle for any of those guys, then.”

         “And why’s that?”

         “Because if you had, then I wouldn’t have gotten to spend this wonderful evening with you.”

         The walk to your apartment felt a lot shorter than normal, but sure enough, before you knew it, you were standing in front of your building.

         “Well, this is me. I had a great time with you tonight, Peter.”

         “I did, too. And, I - I’d like to do it again, sometime.”

         “I’d like that, too.”

         He smiled.

         “Oh, I don’t have your cell number, do I?”

        “Actually, my business and cell are the same, so if you still have my card you can just text me. Or call me. Or, whatever.”

        “Okay, will do.” You couldn’t stop smiling a small half embarrassed smile that was also the result of just how cute this man was.

         Peter leaned in for a goodbye hug and you accepted it. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

         “Goodnight, Peter.”

         You turned and went into your apartment, glancing over your shoulder before you walked in, to see him glancing at you over his shoulder. He threw up a hand and wiggled his fingers at you. You wiggled your fingers back, trying to suppress and giggle.

 

         Once you were inside your apartment you leaned against the door and let out a soft scream of excitement. Dates were never that good. Never that effortless. Never that cute.

         You started getting ready for bed, already excited about texting him the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you for leaving comments and kudos! They are what make me want to keep publishing my wrting on here and on tumblr!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our Reader begins finding some puzzle pieces.

         You learned a lot about Peter over the following weeks. He was right - he was a nerd, absolutely, but so were you, just about different things. He knew photography and science, you knew literature and grammar. The common ground came to movies and tv shows, which you were both pleased to find out you had a lot in common on that front. You were more into Star Wars while he preferred Star Trek, and he liked Narnia to your Lord of the Rings, but you both loved Harry Potter possibly more than should be considered reasonable (and were both able to realize that Snape is a controversial character but not exactly a good one, which was the most important thing in regards to that fandom). You could debate the two for hours - and had - without actually getting angry at each other.

         T.V. was a little different, neither of you had much to get heavily involved in shows, but you were still clinging to the ones you’d had time for in college. Peter, on the other hand, tended to jump between shows sporadically.

         “But right now there’s this one that I’m hooked on, I watch it at like two in the morning, when I can’t sleep.” You were in your apartment, take out sitting on your coffee table, legs thrown up on the couch, intertwining in the middle, while you each leaned against the arms. The T.V. was on in the background, but neither of you were paying much attention to it. “Kinda makes me feel normal.” He rubbed his arm, looking down when he said the last part.

         “What do you mean by ‘normal?’ You seem to have a pretty normal schedule to me.”

         “Well, you know, photography isn’t exactly a nine-to-five. And Aunt May is totally supportive, but I know she’ll be happy when I’m more steadily employed, you know?”

         “Oh, yeah, that was my parents when I was trying to find a job with my humanities degrees. I even got turned down for housekeeping positions.”

         “Oh,” he chuckled, “that’s harsh.”

         “You’re telling me.”

         The conversation naturally died down after that, and you turned back to the T.V., watching the weird made-for-T.V.-movie that was playing. During commercials you would trash the plot and the acting, but mostly you enjoyed each other’s company.

         “I just can’t believe a person would be that stupid to go meet a girl he met online, with no profile picture, in a skeevy bar, for a first date when he knows his crazy ex is after him.”

         “It takes all kinds.” Peter chuckled.

         “All kinds of stupid.”

         Peter laughed some more, and you glanced at him, taking in his smile and the way his eyes lit up when he laughed. He was still looking at the T.V. His jaw dropped and his smile widened suddenly, eyes twinkling.

         “DOGS!” He pointed to the screen, which was showing dog food commercial, endorsed by a bunch of happy dogs, running around. The sight brought a smile to your face.

         “I’ve never met a dog I didn’t like.”

         “You haven’t met enough dogs. I’m good with most dogs, even though I never had one of my own. There are some that I don’t love, but I can deal with, but then there’s this one that I just. Do. Not. Like.”

         “Why?”

         “Okay, so if you’re a guy, he hates you. If he doesn’t know you, he hates you. You had to keep your bedroom door closed because he would randomly go into rooms and chew stuff or jump all over your bed. I was subletting from a friend and I’d been living in the place for three weeks and it was still growling at me. Anytime the front door opened or closed, he went into a barking frenzy - especially at three in the morning when one of my roommates would come back from a night out. He woke me up once and it took me two hours to go back to sleep. I have never more wanted to hurt a living creature.”

         “Damn, that’s awful.”

         “Yeah. Beautiful dog, and once he liked you, he was fine, but three weeks and he still wasn’t used to me? That’s just unnecessary. His person was not a good dog-mom.”

         “Clearly. I’ve had more trouble with cats.”

         “Really? You seem like a cat person, to me.”

         “Oh, I like them, but most of them don’t like me. I’m not sure why. They keep hissing at me. One time, I was out with Aunt May - I think we were Christmas shopping - I was a kid, still pretty shy. So I’m standing half behind my Aunt while she’s talking to this store owner, and this cat comes out from behind the counter. I look at it, because I was taught not to pet animals without the owner’s permission and I was not about to ask someone I didn’t know, and the thing arches it’s back, hair standing on end - like you see in halloween movies - and hisses at me.”

         “Okay, yeah, that was totally uncalled for. Most of my family hates cats. They still have no idea I adopted one for a short period of time.”

         “For real?”

         “Yeah. I found him hiding behind a dumpster while I was holding my friend’s hair. Took him to the vet, but she didn’t give him long because he was so bad off. I had him for like a month. Thought he was getting better, gaining weight and all, but I woke up one morning and …”

         “He was gone?”

         “Yeah.” You looked down at your twiddling fingers. It always amazed you at how quickly humans could get attached to something.

         A hand came into your vision and gripped yours, pulling you into Peter’s waiting arms. You pushed away your surprise and relaxed in his hold.

         “Hey, it’s okay. If all dogs go to heaven, then surely cats do, too.”

         You chuckled. “Thanks, Peter. That helps.”

        

 

         That night, after Peter went home and the take out containers were thrown away, you curled up in bed and thought about Peter, and how close you felt to him after such a short time. You could still feel his arms around you. You had ended up promising to look into that show he said he’d been into. It rang a bell, but you couldn’t place your finger on who else had mentioned it to you.

         You ran through the people you had spoken to recently. You didn’t really talk about shows with anyone at work. Sometimes you heard the interns talking about it on their break, but you’d never stuck around long enough to hear much of anything really. You knew what your brother and parents watched. Most of your family watched police procedurals.

         Who had you spoken to recently? No one out of the ordinary it seemed. Your life had been thankfully relatively routine… except for your almost mugging a few weeks back. You had tried not to think about it too much. You had ultimately opted to not contact the police since you had read in news that they had confessed to an attempted mugging. Occasionally, if you were tossing and turning at night, you wondered if Spider-man was out there rescuing someone else, or if he was trying to be normal by watching… T.V. you dug down deep into your memory. Some parts of that night were crystal clear, while others were blurry and distant. funny how a traumatic event can affect memory like that.

         The actual mugging was blurry, because it all happened so fast. The walk home was more clear. Even though you had been in a bit of a daze, you had focused on what Spider-man was jabbering on about as he walked you home. He had gone on about that same show. Talked about how it made him feel normal. Because he watched it when he couldn’t sleep, like normal people do.

         …

         You let that sink in

         …

         But no, that couldn’t be. It was just a coincidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much if you've continued reading! Originally this was going to have five parts, but I don't think I want to wrap it up that quickly because it would feel rushed and I don't want to do that. Please leave kudos and/or a comment if you enjoyed this!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter’s POV as he contemplates his relationship, Y/N’s POV as she thinks about Spider-man and Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried something new with this part by writing it in Peter’s POV. I’m not sure how I feel about it, so feedback would be great!

_(Peter's POV)_

            “So, you and this girl are really hitting it off, hunh? You’ve seen each other practically non stop for months.”

            I looked up at her, pausing with my fork halfway to my mouth. “Um, yeah, well, she’s fun to spend time with.”

            “Well, tell me about her, kid! I want to know more about the person who’s taking so much of your time. This is like when you applied for that grant and got that internship and you didn’t tell me anything. I don’t like that. Besides, I think I’ve waited long enough to be reasonably asking questions.” May gently chastised. She wasn’t exactly nosey, but she did like to be in the know.

            “Fair enough. Uh, her name is Y/N, and she’s super smart, and funny, and we get along really well. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

            “What does she do? What does she look like? How’d you meet? I’ve got a list of things I need to know. It’s my job. Gotta make sure my boy’s not getting involved with someone shady, you know.” She winked, but I knew she was serious.

            I heaved a sigh. “Alright, Aunt May; what do you want to know first?”

 

            “She still showed up? After she was almost mugged?”

            “Yeah. Had the gauze on and everything.”

            “Guess you owe Spider-man one for saving your date, huh kiddo?”

            I chuckled and rubbed the back of neck. “She’s just great, May. Not just because she’s just so…badass-“ May sent me a look “-Sorry, but I don’t know how else to describe it. She’s easy to talk to, and we’re so similar. Neither of us have exactly normal lives, and neither of get enough sleep no matter how hard we try, and we both sort of survive on Chinese takeout.”

            “I feed you better than that.” May said, feigning hurt.

            “Yeah, but if I was left on my own, you know I couldn’t survive without it.”

            “That is true. Now come on, tell me more.”

            “I don’t know what else to tell you really. We like spending time together.”

            “You seeing her again soon?”

           “Yeah. Tomorrow. There’s a farmers market she wants to check out. Want me to pick up anything for you?”

           “I just went grocery shopping. I don’t think I missed anything.”

            “Alright, well, if you think of something, let me know.” I stood and loaded my dishes into the dishwasher before moving off to my room.

            Lying on the bed felt well earned after that mini-interrogation, even if she did mean well, it was a bit much. We’d only been seeing each other a few months. I breathed in deeply, and stared up at the ceiling. Maybe she had someone bugging her about the guy she was spending so much time with. I thought back to the night I stopped her mugger. It seemed like karma: she saved me, then I got to save her… wait, that might not count as karma… It was something, and I had no plans on questioning it.

 

 

            Two weeks later I thought that maybe I _should_ question it. What kind of luck do I have that my girlfriend happened to be in the same convenience store that was being held up? Shitty luck, apparently. We’d already had the storybook rescue, right? This wasn’t supposed to happen again.

            When I swung in, I used the back door. That’s were she was, crouched down where the guy at the front couldn’t see her. There was another guy making his way down the aisles, demanding whatever was in the customer’s wallets. He was going to get to her soon or later, but he hadn’t seen me come in, yet.

            I tapped on her shoulder, and quickly covered her mouth when it looked like she was going to scream, just before the look of recognition crossed her face.

            “Yeah, it’s me. You gotta stop getting in trouble. Now come on, quietly. Come with me.”

            “But…” She glanced towards the front.

            “I’ll take care of them, but I want to take care of you first.”

            She looked confused, but she came with me when I tugged on her hand. She stayed bent and low. I slowly opened the door and pulled her through, into the back alley and next to a stack of crates.

            “Stay here. I’ll come back for you, okay?”   She nodded.

            “I’ll send the others out to you, okay? You gather them here; the police will want to take statements.”

            “Go save ‘em. Spidey.”

            The fight was short and practically non-existent. As soon as I got in, I got the guy going through the aisles. BAM! BAM! Webbed his arms to his sides, slung his gun upon the ceiling. Most of the patrons scrambled for the back door. The shop owner ducked down behind the counter and when the guy harassing him turned to me I webbed his feet to the floor and his hands together. His partner, hands still stuck to his legs, was making a break for the door. I attached him to the door.

            “Now, you guys just stick around here for the cops. I think I hear them now.”

            When I made it back outside, Y/N was comforting an older lady and hollering for a kid to:

            “Stop it, right there. You gotta be here to make a statement. You can stay with Mrs. Hanzo.”

            “Alright, everyone! Thank you for your cooperation, if you all would go back to the front of the building, you can meet the cops who are arriving right now. They’ll take your statements and you can be on your way.” I said, ushering them away.

            With relatively minimal grumbling they moved towards the front. Y/N hung back with me, watching the others move forward. Once they were out of sight, she ducked down next to the dumpster and reached behind it. When she stood up, she had a small black kitten in her hands.

            “I spotted him earlier, but I didn’t know how Mrs. Hanzo would react. She’s not an animal person.”

            “You know her?”

           “It seems like she’s always in the store when I am. We talk when we’re waiting in line.”

            “He looks half gone. What if he doesn’t make it?”

            “With a little TLC, and a check up at the vet, and some quality food, I think he’ll be okay.”

            “Just be careful. Don’t go getting too attached too soon. I’d hate for your heart to broken again.”

            She cradled the cat close to her chest and looked up at me. Her gaze was careful, almost calculating, but she smiled softly. “I don’t suppose there’s a way I can not talk to the police, is there? There are so many other people making statements and they’ll all say the same thing. And I need to get this little guy a bath.”

            “Weeeeeeell, I guess not.”

            She smiled so brightly I thought I was going to go blind from it. I stepped closer and took a better look at her new friend. When I reached out to scratch him at the base of his neck, he purred.

            “He likes you.”

           “That’s a first.”

            “You sure seem like a cat person.”

            I stiffened. This conversation seemed really familiar. Time to deflect.

            “Need a walk home?”

            She smiled warmly. “I’d appreciate that.” She looped her spare arm through mine and started directing me out of the alley. “I’m not sure my boyfriend will believe me when I say that Spider-man saved me a second time.”

            “Oh?”

            “Yeah. I had my first date with him the day after you saved me the first time. We’re actually supposed to meet up later tonight.”

         “I bet he’ll be glad you’re okay.” She giggled. “He does tend to worry. Showing up to our first date with gauze on my neck probably didn’t help. Thank you, for that. I’m not sure I ever thanked you.”

            “You did. Several times, actually.”

           “And you were right, by the way. That webbing did feel weird.”

 

 

            On the way we stopped in a store and she picked up some cat food, some kitty litter, and a cheap litter box. When we got to her apartment building she stopped before going inside. She looked nervous, kicking her foot at the ground. She’d have been wringing her hands together if it weren’t for the cat and cat supplies in her hands.

            “Spider-man?” Her voice was soft and breathy.

            “Yes?”

            “I just really want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Who knows where I’d be if it weren’t for you.” Y/N stepped closer.

            “Oh, well, you know, it’s what I do.”

            Her smile was warm, a sharp contrast her general behavior.

            “Doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a ‘thank you,’ you know.”

            While I was trying to think of something to say, she darted in and kissed my cheek. I felt my eyes widen and my mouth drop open, even though I didn’t tell them to.

            While I was still dazed, she smiled and walked away,

 

_(2nd Person POV)_

            You had your sleeves rolled up as you bathed the kitten in your bathtub. You were replaying all the facts you had in your head. Peter and Spider-man watched the same show on sleepless nights - which in and of itself was not much of anything - but Peter was also the only one who knew that you had saved a stray kitten before, and how sad it made you when he didn’t make it. Peter never got along with cats, and Spider-man was surprised when this little guy didn’t bite at him. (You made a mental note to observe how Peter reacted to the cat, and how the cat reacted to Peter.) Your boyfriend and the masked hero were the same height, the same build, and while the mask muffled Spider-man’s voice a little bit, they sounded somewhat similar. Of course, none of that was proof. What if you were imagining the connections? Seeing things that weren’t really there? You weren’t familiar with sound and the science behind enough to say for certain that Spider-man sounded like Peter more than the guy that worked the counter at your grocery store. Millions of people watch the same show late at night, that’s how TV shows work. Plenty of people don’t get along with cats, and there are literally millions of people in New York. Several of them are going to have similar builds.

            The only thing that seemed to have some sort of distinctive significance was that Spider-man KNEW about the cat situation. He even seemed worried about it. Or more like, worried about you. But if that was meaningful - and it definitely was – then the other things, which individually wouldn’t mean a thing, had to matter. Right? More than five things in common couldn’t just be a coincidence. Could it?

            Forty minutes after Spider-man dropped you off, and just as you were drying the kitten, that you had named Void for the time being, Peter arrived. You opened the door with a smile, Void wrapped in a blanket and hugged close to your chest with one arm. The other you wrapped around Peter’s shoulders.

            He leaned into the contact and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of your mouth. Your chest tightened. Here Peter was gently kissing you and you had kissed Spider-man! It was starting to sink in. It was just a thank you kiss on the cheek, simple and sweet. Peter wouldn’t have an issue with it, probably. And if he did, you’d have to have a talk, because it wasn’t that kind of kiss. Although, a man can’t really get jealous of himself, can he?

            “Hi, sweetheart. How are you?”

           You pulled him in the door and closed it behind him. “Fine. You?”

           “I’m great now that I’m here. It’s been a few days. I missed you.” He held your hips and pulled you closer, kissing you much more passionately than he initially had, making your heart race and your eyes flutter shut.

            Your free arm moved around the back of his neck to keep him close. His kisses moved from your lips, to your cheek, to your neck. His hands pulled you tighter against him.

            That’s when the meowing and squirming started.

            You reluctantly pulled back and soothed Void. Peter looked a little put out.           

            “Who’s the cute little third wheel?” 

You giggled. “I’m calling him Void. I found him in a back alley this evening after Spider-man stopped a robbery in the convenience store I was in.”

            “Um, what?”

           “Yeah. Don’t worry. I’m fine. He stopped it before anything bad could happen.”

            “Um, yeah, still going to do some after-the-fact worrying. Go back to the store you were in being robbed?”

            “Well, come on in and sit down first.”

            He did as you asked. When you sat down next to him, body turned so you could look at him while you told your story, he pulled you against his side. You glanced up at him and he shrugged before repositioning you, shifting so his back was against the side of the couch and you were resting against his chest. You slid down so you could tilt your head back and look up at him.

            “Okay, now tell me.”

            “Well, I stopped in to grab a drink on my way home from work. I thought some caffeine would help my headache. I’m in the back with Mrs. Hanzo, I’ve mentioned her before, she was getting some milk, and we were just chatting. Suddenly, I hear yelling from the front. There’s two guys with guns. One’s yelling at the cashier and the other is harassing the people at the front. We both ducked down; she was a several aisles over; I was close to the back door.

            “I was trying to keep my eyes on the guy making his way through the store, hoping that I could keep out of his sight. Next thing I know, Spider-Man is there, hand on my mouth, pulling me out the back way.”

            “No way. What about everyone else?”

            “That’s what I said. He told me that he wanted to take care of me first. Told me I have to stop getting into trouble.”

            “You do seem to have a knack for it.” Peter’s arms tightened around you and he kissed the top of your head.

            “Anyway, before he sent the others out to me, I heard felt something run across my foot, which was almost worse than the gunmen, but when I looked down it was just this little guy. Then the others come out, and Spider-man comes back and moves everyone else back to the front.”

            “You didn’t have to go?”

           “I convinced him there were enough witnesses without me. Plus, I had this one to take care of. So he walked me home again. If this keeps up I’m going to have to invite him up for coffee or something as payback. But he was really nice about it.” You scratched behind Void’s ears. “Come on, let’s see if you two will get along.” You picked up his hand and brought it to the top of Void’s head.

            Peter moved to scratch Void’s neck, and the little black ball of fur purred just like he had for Spider-man. You couldn’t contain your smile, but kept your gaze focused on the cat.

            “I’m glad you two are getting along. He purred like that for Spider-man, too. Apparently he’s not a cat person, either.”

            You felt Peter stiffen behind you. “Is that so?”

            “Yeah. He reminds me of you a bit.”

            “Oh? How’s that?”

            You shrugged. “You’re both kind, and caring, and I can persuade both of you when I want to, apparently.”

            “What?” He looked scandalized. It was so dramatic, mouth dropped open, brows scrunched together, eyes wide, that you couldn’t help but laugh.

          “Yeah. Remember when I convinced you to give me a piggyback the last two blocks home? And clearly Spider-man can be swayed by my charming smile.”

            He hummed. “Anyone could be swayed by your smile. It’s blindingly beautiful.”

            You looked back up at him, biting your lower lip, grin shining through anyway. “Well aren’t you silver-tongued?”

            “I do try.”

            He maneuvered so he could kiss you, ‘silver’ tongue licking your lip asking for entrance. You turned in his arms, setting Void down on the floor in the process, and deepened the kiss. Things were just starting to get heated, both of you pressing against the other, rotating your hips, his hands wandering, your stomach rumbling.

            It was a rude interruption that broke the kiss.

            “It would seem that I forgot about dinner.”

            “Then let’s get you taken care of.”

            “Good kisses and food as the top priority, if you’re not careful I might fall for you.”

            He winked. “I’ll just have to watch myself then.”

 

           

            After a hastily made dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup, you went back to cuddling. Usually you would turn on the TV for something to rest your eyes on, but the remote was too far away, and you had already gotten comfortable. Peter was on his back on the couch; you were on your stomach, hips nestled between his legs, using his stomach as a pillow. Void was tucked into a makeshift cat bed: an old beach towel in a cardboard box. You didn’t have work the next day. There was nothing to worry about or prepare for. This time was just for you and Peter to relax together, no worries. With only a couple lamps lighting the room, the atmosphere was about as peaceful as it could be. Peter was drifting off to sleep when he heard your mumbled whisper.

            “Peter?”

            He hummed.

            “You seem tired.”

            “I suppose so.” He let out a breathy chuckle. “But, so are you.”

            “Mmmm, the adrenaline from earlier is catching up with me.”

            “Earlier?”

           “Spider-man?”

            “Oh, yeah. Didn’t know you had a thing for masks if it got you all excited.”

            You nudged his shoulder while trying not to laugh. “Oh shut it. You haven’t seen how great his butt looks in that spandex or whatever it is he wears.”

            “Do I need to be worried?”

            “Probably not. Spider-man’s got a nice ass, but you’ve got a nice ass _and_ a nice face. He’s got nothing on you.”

            “Thanks, sweetheart.” You could hear the smile in his voice.

            You lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the street. The soft light casting odd fuzzy shadows on the wall for you to trace with your eyes. It was nice, but you couldn’t stop thinking about everything that Peter and Spider-man seemed to have in common. It was just too much. If it weren’t for him seeming worried about you taking home a strange cat, maybe you could have let it go, but he had been, and therefor you couldn’t.

            You’d stiffened as you thought about it. The stress of not knowing how to broach the subject stressing you out.

            “Y/N? You alright? You seem tense?”

            After a moment’s hesitation, you decided to test the waters,

            “Peter? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

           “Yeah, of course.”

            “Good.”

            “What’s brought this on?”

            You didn’t speak for a moment, wondering if you had just messed up. Taking in a deep breath, you pushed yourself up on your elbows so you could look into his eyes. He looked curious, but not suspicious.

            “I’m not going to force you to tell me anything, but just please be careful. I’m getting rather attached to you and I would like to continue spending time with you.”

            “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Is this because of what happened at the store? Because it seems I should be more worried about you than the other way around. You’ve gotten into more trouble than me.”

            You shrugged. You weren’t going to ask him if he was a secret vigilante based on a wild theory. “I just want to know that you’re safe. I worry. Especially with you going off at night to take pictures.”

            His smile was soft and his eyes lit up. Shifting carefully so you didn’t fall into the floor, he pulled you up so your faces were even.

            “I’m honored that you like me enough to worry about me. I’m careful, but if it will make you feel better, then I promise I’ll be more vigilant.”

            “Even observant people can get caught off guard.”

            He chuckled and shook his head. “Is there nothing I can do to make you feel better about this?”

            You chewed on the inside of your lip for a minute before speaking. “I don’t want to be one of those girlfriends that has to know where you are every minute, but, if you’re okay with it, would you text me when you get in at night? So I know you made it back safe? Not like, every night, just the ones where you’re wandering around until you find something worth photographing?”

            He nodded and hugged you closer. “Yeah. I can do that."

           “Even if you don’t get in till really late and you think I’m already asleep?”

           “Even if it’s really late and you should already be asleep. Because I know you never fall asleep at a reasonable time.”

            “You know me so well. Thank you.”

            “Thank you for caring.”

            “Hey, you would do the same if I was reckless enough to roam around at night with a camera.”

            “I already worry because you don’t even have to do that to find trouble.”  
            “Excuse you!” You feigned offense, even though you knew he was mostly right. “Trouble finds me.”

           “I don’t think that’s any better.”

            “Guess we better hope Spider-man doesn’t leave town.”

            He rolled his eyes, but smiled at you. “I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I started this before Homecoming came out, there are some things from different versions of Peter that I already planned on using that this version didn’t really go with or altered from what I chose, so I’m going to continue with what I planned, mostly (for example, Holland’s Peter did band not photography, but I always wanted this Peter to do photography), but hopefully the characterisation/speech patterns/thought process feels like Homecoming Peter.
> 
> Please let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wants you to meet someone very important to him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think there are any warnings beyond a little meeting-new-people anxiety.
> 
> If you ever run across something that makes you uncomfortable and want me to tag/make a warning at the beginning of a chapter, PLEASE let me know! I know not all things are obvious, and I never want someone to be uncomfortable with one of my stories. I won't be offended or put out at all! I hate being caught by surprise.

            It was a normal Saturday. You had had a busy week and had barely gotten to speak to Peter since you’d last cuddled with him on your couch, trying to figure out if you were crazy for thinking that he could be Spider-man. You’d read manuscript after manuscript, and your boss was wanting to add to your ever-growing list of responsibilities. You would never shrink from the opportunity, but it was daunting when you had to consider everything else that you had going on. You were taking more work home and keep later hours than you wanted, but it would be worth it if meant you could use it as leverage for a pay raise in a few months.

            Now you were getting to make up for lost time. Peter was showing you some little knick-knack shop he’d stumbled upon when doing some late night shooting and the two of you were browsing while talking about your weeks. It was funny that you both wanted the other to talk, but when asked, all either of you could say was “it was work, there’s nothing to tell.”

            You did make a point to thank him for texting you three nights that week at very odd hours to tell you that he had made it home safe.

            “I told you I would, and I am a man of my word.”  
            “I know, but sometimes people forget, or whatever, so thank you. I sleep better when I know you’re being cautious.”

            “Oh?”  
            “Like I said, I’m growing rather fond of you.”

            “I’m rather fond of you, too.”

           “Hey, Y/N, would you like to meet May?”  

            “Really? You want to introduce me to your aunt?”

            “Yeah. I mean, you’re really important to me, and May is really important, and I just… yeah.”

            You smiled. “I’d love to, Peter.”

            He looked at you, eyes wide, a lopsided grin that showed his teeth quickly spreading across his face. “Awesome. Great. Um, May is making lasagna Friday. IS that okay?”

            “Yeah. That sounds fantastic.”

            Your heart started pounding. Yes, you wanted to meet May. But that’s also really intimidating. Most of your family lived in a different state. You barely saw them. When they met Peter it would be because someone was travelling for the weekend, and then they would leave. May was right here. In the city. What if she didn’t like you? What if she thought you weren’t good for him and encouraged him not to see you anymore? What if you messed up and made a fool of yourself? You’d have to go into the witness protection program.

            “Y/N!” Peter held your shoulders tightly. Your eyes snapped up to his face, confused.

            “Stop over-thinking.” He gently rubbed your arms. You knew he was trying to calm both of you. It scared him when you went into a daze like that, thinking too much and letting you anxiety get the best of you. “May is going to love you, but if you aren’t ready of that, then that’s okay.”

            “No, Peter, I do want to meet her. I’m just nervous is all. I’ve never really met the family before. I don’t want to screw up.”

            “I really don’t think you could, but if you want to practice, how about you meet Ned first?”

            “As in best-friend-since-forever-Ned?”

            “Yeah… But he’s really cool and chill, and you’ve got nothing to worry about. He’s the opposite of judgmental. I promise. We can just like, meet up for coffee or something.”

            You nodded. “Okay. That sounds pretty reasonable.”

            “Great! I’ll see if he’s free.”

            “Now?”

            “Well, if you’re okay with it? I mean, we were going to get coffee any way. And he usually likes a mid afternoon pick me up.”

            You nodded again. “Okay. It’s a casual thing. Casually meeting the best friend.” You weren’t talking to him, eyes staring off into space. Again.

            “Y/N? Is this too much?”

            Your attention snapped back to him and your stubbornness set in. He’d always been so patient with your and this was important for him. You were going to do it, anxiety be damned.

            “Nope.” Your voice was firm. “Text your best friend.”

            He smiled. Not that he was ready to admit it, but he found it really sexy when you got determined and stubborn. It made his heart flutter. “Yes ma’am.”

 

 

 

            An hour later, you found yourself sitting a booth with three drinks. Peter was outside so he could flag down Ned. Trying out a new place together had been Ned’s idea, but it was a hole in the wall, and, having walked past it three times, Peter didn’t want Ned to do the same. You had grabbed the drinks and a table, Peter was eating outside to grab the friend.

            You glanced up every time you heard the door open. Five times now it had been a false alarm, and the sixth you didn’t even bother to look up from your phone. You had messaging your best friends from college about meeting Ned, and they were being very encouraging. If Ned had good taste, they said, then he would love you.

            “Hey, Y/N!” Peter’s voice pulled you out of your group chat. He was smiling widely, a person beside him. “This is Ned.”

            You stood to shake his hand.

            “Ned, this is Y/N.”

            “Nice to meet you. Peter’s told me all about you. He doesn’t shut up about you.”

            You laughed, and felt your face heating up.

            “It’s great to meet you, too. You’re pretty much famous. Peter talks a lot about you, too.”

            “Okay, I talk a lot. We get it. How about these drinks!” Peter chuckled and ushered you into the booth before sliding in next to you, Ned taking the opposite side. With a quick glance at your boyfriend, you could see that he already thought it was going well.

 

 

 

            You had all finished your drinks a long time ago, but you were having a wonderful time. It had been nearly an hour and a half of almost nonstop laughter.

            “Wait, you told everyone that Peter knew Spider-man to impress a girl?”

            “Well, she was a senior and we were sophomores.” Peter had been valiantly trying to defend himself, but Ned took care of that for him.

            “Peter had such a huge crush on her. He did get her to go to Homecoming with him though.”

            You turned an accusatory look toward Peter before going back to Ned. “Oh really? Because he told me that he was a dork and no one worth dating wanted to go out with him.”

            Ned also looked at Peter with a ‘come on, bro’ glance. “I mean, that’s the only date I can really remember him going on in high school. She moved not long after because of…family stuff. She didn’t want to talk about it.”

            You patted Peter’s leg. “That’s rough, buddy.”

            Ned’s eyes went wide. “Did you just quote Avatar: The Last Airbender?” “Of course! I do have excellent taste.”

            “I like you. What else do you watch?”

            “How long you got?”

 

 

 

            Peter was walking you home, your hands intertwined and swinging between you.

            “So, how was that? Not too bad, right?”

            “Not at all. Ned’s great! We need to get together and watch stuff together. I bet he does great commentary.”

            “Yeah, it’s one of his strong suits. If you’re not careful he’ll bring over Lego sets.”

            “Then why would I be careful?”

            “You like Lego?”

            “Everyone likes Lego. I never got super invested as a kid, but I’ve always enjoyed it.”

            “So do think you’re ready to meet May next Friday?”

            You nodded. “Yep. I can handle it. What kind of desserts does she like?”

            “Y/N, you don’t have to -“

            “I’m not showing up empty handed. Now, what dessert does she like?”

 

 

 

            Peter rode the subway over to Avengers Tower. He was supposed to meeting with Tony to talk about how things were going. Just to catch up. Tony had mentioned doing some more training with the team, which would be awesome. But it was also conflicting, because it would probably mean less time with Y/N.

 

            **Peter:** What did you think?

            **Ned:** She’s perfect. Marry her.

            **Peter:** It’s been three months.

            **Ned:** She’s sweet, and likes all the nerd stuff you do, and she clearly cares about you. Marry her.

            **Peter:** I’m introducing her to May on Friday.

            **Ned:** Dude, that’s a big step.

            **Peter:** You were just telling me to marry her!

            **Ned:** Yeah, but marriage and May are two different things.

            **Peter:** Yeah, but May will love her, right?

**Ned:** I do.

            **Peter:** Get your own Y/N.

            **Ned:** Don’t worry. Besides, she’s totally smitten you.

            **Peter:** You think so?

            **Ned:** It’s the way she looks at you when you aren’t looking. Only people in rom coms have that look. You look at her that way, too.

            **Peter:** …

            **Ned:** OMG YOU LOVE HER

            **Peter:** …

            **Ned:** HAVE YOU TOLD HER???

            **Peter:** No? It’s not been that long? Besides, I’ve never really been in love. How do I know it’s the real thing? Or what if I’m wrong and it’s not actually Love yet?

            **Ned:** And you want her to meet May first?

            **Peter:** Yeah. That feels like the right order of things, right? Meet the best friend, meet the family, then tell them you love them? By then I should know, right?

            **Ned:** You’re asking the wrong person.

            **Peter:** You’re my guy in the chair, this is your job.

            **Ned:** I give you directions, not love advice.

            **Peter:** You did in high school.

            **Ned:** This is different.

            **Peter:** You are no help. GTG just arrived at the tower.

            **Ned:** Shame that your guy in the chair wasn’t invited.

            **Peter:** Next time.

            **Ned:** Sure. Tell me how it goes.

 

 

 

            The meeting was exactly what Peter expected, almost. They’d been happening every six months or so since Vulture. Come in, talk things out, get some pointers, and leave knowing they would call him if they needed him. And they had several times. Usually it also ended in an offer to join the team full time, but Peter kept delaying. Till after high school, till after college, and now because…

            “There’s someone special.”

            “…Yeah. She’s just…amazing.”

            “And she doesn’t know that she’s dating Spider-man.”

            “No. Not yet. It’s not exactly easy to bring up in conversation.”

            “Fair enough. But if you really care about this person enough to out off joining the Avengers - again - then you will have to tell her eventually. Trust me. Now tell me about her. I want to know everything.”

            “Mr. Stark - “

            “No buts, Peter. I made the suit and upgrades, I get to know about the love of your life.”

            “If I don’t you’re going to research her, aren’t you?”

            “Do you not trust me?”

            “With my life, but not this.”

            “You know I can find out anyway. Might as well tell me so I can find out on your terms.”

 

            “Oh God, this might be worse than May asking questions.”

            “So May knows? How’s she do-”

            “Good. Busy. She stays busy. Got a lot going on.”

            Tony threw his hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright, just being polite. Now, since your lovely aunt is off limits for discussion, let’s get back to this girl of yours.”      

            “Damn.”

            “Language.”

            Peter heaved a sigh before, begrudgingly, telling Tony all the same things he’d told May.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I've got the next several chapters almost ready to go (a little more editing and formatting is needed, but overall the bulk of content is done) and I'm really excited about them because they just sorta pour out over the course of a few days.
> 
> I'd love to hear what y'all think! I'm not getting much feedback on tumblr except for one loyal reader, so this has been my main source of reader interaction and I LIVE to hear from y'all!! It lets me know if it's worth continuing to post. 
> 
> To reiterate, or in case you didn't read it at the top: PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU WANT ME TO TAG/WARN ABOUT SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE. If it makes you feel odd, then chances are someone else feels that way, too. Personally, for me, I HATE when people don't tag pregnancy, esp. in reader inserts bc I have no desire to be pregnant/have kids/read about that for a myriad of reasons, so I will never judge anyone for what they want to be tagged.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finally meet May.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, a little meeting-new-people anxiety, otherwise I can't think of any obvious warnings!

            “Y/N, relax. It’s all going to be okay. I promise.”

            “I know. I know that she’s a nice person - she has to be because you turned out so great - so that right there is a pretty good indication that we would get along, but you’re still her baby boy and she’s going to want the best for you, and what if for some reason she thinks I’m not good enough?”

            Peter took the plate of brownies out of your hands and set it on the entry way table before turning back to you and pulling you into a strong hug. One of his arms wrapped around your waist, the other stroked your hair gently, fingernails scratching lightly along your scalp. You held onto him as tightly as you could.

            “I know that you’re scared, and I know that you know that you don’t need to be, and I know that you can’t help it.” He whispered in your, voice gentle and smooth. “I also know that you two are going to hit it off so well that I’m going to regret introducing you, and you’re going to start teaming up against me. I wouldn’t ask you to meet her unless I knew she was going to lo-ike you as much as I do.”

            You were silently for a moment, letting his words sink in as you tried to regulate your breathing, taking in the smell of his shampoo and deodorant that had recently become very calming to you. Your face was nestled in the crook of his neck, and you were sure he could feel you smile when he pressed a gently kiss to your hairline.

            “Are you okay?”

           You nodded, but didn’t let go. “Peter?”

           “Hmm?”

           “I really lo-ike you, too.” You tried really hard to suppress your shit-eating grin and not giggle. You didn’t want to embarrass him, but it was really sweet.

            You felt this shake his head before holding you at arms’ length and grinning at you. You grinned right back and darted in quickly to kiss him. It was supposed to be a chaste kiss. A quick little peck before walking out the door. Peter seemed to have other ideas.

            His hands slipped down to your hips and held you close, discouraging you from stepping away. When you finally did manage to pull away, slightly out of breath and eyes blown wide, you noticed that his lips were much more red than they had been a few minutes ago.

            “P-Peter.”

            “Yes?”

           “Um, I hate to break it to you, but you’re wearing more lipstick than I am.”

            “Shit!”

            While he sprinted off to the bathroom to wipe it off, you doubled over laughing.

            By the time he got back you had checked your own lipstick in your compact, fixed the smudges, and were the picture of the ‘girl you wanna bring home to mama,’ standing by the door with non-smudged lipstick and a freshly baked plate of brownies, ready to go.

            “Now that you’ve fixed your make-up, are you ready to go? I don’t want to be late. It makes for a bad first impression. Let’s go.”

            “You know,” he started as he slipped on his jacket, “this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had your lipstick smeared on me. And hopefully it won’t be the last.” Peter opened the door for you and held the brownies while you locked the door - refusing to give them back to you afterwards, claiming that ‘if you baked them then I can at least carry them.’

            “Keep that up and it definitely won’t be the last time you have to wipe my lipstick off.”

            Peter grinned and motioned for you to lead on. “After you, m’lady.”

            “There is a thing called over-doing it.”

            “Not of you, there isn’t.”

           You rolled your eyes lovingly. “Can it, Romeo.”

 

 

           

            As you sat on the subway, Peter’s arm around your shoulders, you giggled to yourself softly.

            “Something funny?” He kept his voice soft.

            “I was just thinking, I’ve met your best friend and now I’m meeting your aunt. I think we’ve officially feathered the ‘lo-ike stage’ of our relationship.” You fought back your laughter.

            “Am I ever going to live that down?”

            “Nope.”

 

 

 

            Peter opened the door for you and ushered you inside.

            “Peter? Is that you?” A voice called from the kitchen.

            “Hey, May. We’re home.”

            A woman in her early or mid-fifties came rushing around the corner with her arms open and a huge smile on her face. She hugged Peter and then turned to you.

            “Welcome! You must be Y/N. I’m so excited to meet you.”

            “I’m excited to meet you, too, Mrs. Parker. Peter’s told me so many wonderful things.”

            “Has he told you I’m a hugger?”

            “Has he told you that I am, too?”

            “Well, come here, then!”

            Peter took the plate of brownies out of your hands so that you and May could hug without endangering the dessert.      

            When you parted she took a look at the dessert in Peter’s hands. “Did you make those? They look delicious?”

            You nodded. “I did. Mom’s recipe. Take a box of brownie mix and add a cup of chocolate chips.”

            “Ohhhh, I can’t wait. Come on in and sit down. Dinner will be out of the oven in five minutes.”

           

 

            Though you hadn’t really been sure what to expect, you definitely enjoyed yourself. All that worrying for nothing.

            You did learn that May was heavily invested in a book series that your company was publishing. The fifth book was in the final stages of editing and would be hitting the printers soon. You had been promised an advanced copy for your work on the project, and because you had accidentally given the author the idea for the book. You promised that May would be the first to crack its spine.

            “How did you meet him? I thought he avoided the public?”

            “I work for the company that publishes his M-M series.”

            “Oh! That’s so exciting! I want to ask you more, but I want to be surprised.”

            “Well, I didn’t work on it too much. Most of my work is with first time authors, or people who haven’t done novels before. But I just started chatting with a guy in the break room – I had no idea who he was – and then suddenly he’s jumping up and thanking me and running out. A few months later I get a call asking me to proof the first draft because the author requested me, which just doesn’t happen. They usually don’t care as long as the proofing gets done. I agreed, and a few days later he calls me and thanks me because our conversation sparked the idea and it took off from there.”

            “That’s amazing.”

            “It took me by complete surprise. But seriously, as soon as I get my hands on it, I’ll bring it over for you to read. I still have to read the first four.”

            “They’re piled on her coffee table. She thinks they’re judging her because they been sitting there for so long.” Peter said.

            “They are! I’ve had to dust them five times.”

May laughed and nodded in agreement, claiming she had her own books that were judging her.

 

 

By the time you were halfway through dinner the initial questions were out of the way. Where are you from, what’s your family like, what do you do, where did you go to school, what are your hobbies, and the rest of the typical questions. Then it was on to the fun stuff – Peter’s childhood.

“Has he told you about when he interned for Tony Stark?”

            You looked at Peter, mouth open in a surprised smile, head cocked in a gentle accusation. “No, he definitely did not.”  
            “Peter! You never brag on yourself.”

            “You always told me it was a bad thing!”

            May rolled her eyes and turned back to you. “I’m still raising him.”

            “I think you’ve done a great job. Peter’s a great guy. It’s pretty obvious he gets it from you.”

            “Peter, I like her.”

            You chuckled, ducking your head down, and softly said ‘thank you.’ You missed the way Peter beamed at his aunt. “What was that about interning for Tony Stark?”

            “Oh, that’s right. He was so impressed with Peter’s application he came right to the apartment to discuss it!”

            “What? I can’t believe he didn’t tell me about this!”

            “I know! He didn’t even tell me he was applying to it. It took up pretty much all of his time Sophomore year of high school.”  
            “Wait, this was in high school? Most college students wouldn’t even dream of getting an internship like that, and you got one in high school?”

            Peter shrugged. “Yeah, well, you know, it was a while ago.”

            “Don’t tell me it slipped your mind.”

            Another shrug. “Sorry?”

            You fondly shook your head and grinned at May. “What else hasn’t he told me?”

            “I could only tell you if he told me. Ned can probably tell you more about the high school years, but I’ve got the cute toddler phase covered.”

            “Oh, please, no.”

            “Oh, please, yes.”

            May laughed and stood. “Let’s break into those brownies first. Then we’ll see if we can dig out some pictures.” She winked at Peter and you laughed as you rose to help her carry the plates to the sink.

            “The lasagna was delicious, Mrs. Parker.”

            “Oh, thank you. And please, May is just fine. We are far from being formal around here.”

            You glanced at Peter and quirked an eyebrow, silently asking how he thought it was going. He threw you a wink and walked with you into the kitchen. Leaning in close he whispered, “you’re great.”

            With his praise as an extra little confidence boost, you happily enjoyed the rest of the evening. Though Peter persuaded is aunt to wait on pulling out his toddler pictures, you still had fun, partially at Peter’s expense.

            “It wasn’t that funny.” Peter said, pretending to pout, even though he had a small smile on his face. He would explain it away by saying that it was because his two favorite ladies were getting along so well, which wouldn’t be a lie, just not the whole truth.

            “It was! He was so convinced that was cuss word that if he said it and we didn’t fuss at him, he thought we weren’t punishing him. And he’d confront us about it! ‘May, why didn’t fuss at me? I said ‘thistle,’ and thistle’s a bad word.”

            You bit your lip to fight back the laughter at your boyfriend’s expense. It did not work.

            “It’s alright, Peter. I said ‘ass’ once when I was like three, and when my brother told on me, my excuse was ‘I meant it in the good way,’ because somewhere I had heard that it meant donkey. I don’t think I got in trouble.”

            “See? Every kid uses curses, real or imaginary.”

            “Hey! Did I tell you about the cat Y/N rescued?”

            “For the record, I know what you’re doing, but no. You didn’t tell me about that!”

            “It’s really not a big deal. He was meowing from behind a dumpster. I couldn’t just leave him there. But he has started spending more time with my downstairs neighbor than me.”

            “Do tell.”  
            “He got out on the fire escape and crawled in through their window. I was searching everywhere for him and they came knocking on the door, cat in arms, asking if I had lost him. They were going door to door. There were two little kids, and their cat was getting older. I need to talk to their Dad some more to make sure it’s okay, but I think I’m going to offer to let them adopt Void if they’ll let me visit sometimes. I’m not home enough to get to play with him anyway, and I think he gets lonely.”

            There was a sadness to your voice, but you kept smiling. Peter reached over and held your hand. You squeezed back gently to let him know that you were okay. May told you how sweet that was of you. You immediately felt your heart soar hearing May support you. It was something you would expect your own mom to say – if she liked cats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had to cut this chapter in half because it was more than twice as long as the others (and everything didn't need to be in one chapter). 
> 
> Come tell me what you think! I have the next couple chapters planned out, but what are y'all wanting to see? What do y'all like? I need to know! Hearing from all of you gives me a reason to keep writing!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a couple conversations and makes an important decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think there are any warnings that apply for this chapter!

            By the time you left, you had exchanged numbers with May, who had promised you could call her for anything. Peter had said he was going to walk you back to your place. Afterwards he was supposed to head over to Ned’s for ‘Guys’ Weekend.’ May had whispered to you that it meant video games, gossip, and zero sleep.

            On the way back, you held hands with Peter and leaned into him, unable to express your happiness with words.

            “You seem cheerful.”

            “It went much better than I thought it would. Like, I didn’t expect her to be mean or anything, but I didn’t think I was going to feel so welcomed, you know? Do you think she really liked me, or was she being polite?”  
            “Y/N, she really like you. She might like you more than Ned.”

            “Ned’s had more chanced to get on her nerves than me at this point. Tell him I said ‘hi,’ by the way.”

            “Will do.”

            “So, your people like me, huh?”

            “My people love you, and they should: you’re terrific.”

            “You’re terrific, too. I just wish my family wasn’t so far away so you could meet them.”

 

 

            Peter called Ned as soon as he left your apartment, before he was even out of the building.           

            “Hey, can we postpone by like, two hours?"

            “Oh, is it Spider-man Stuff? Do you need me?”

            “No, Ned. It’s I Gotta Talk To May Stuff.”

            “Dude, didn’t she already give you the talk?”

            “Not that, Ned.”

            “Alright. I’ll be here, but I marking down that I got pushed back in your schedule. You’re buying the ice cream.”

            “I’ll grab some on my way over. The usual?”

            “What else?”

            “Great, thanks.”

            “And I expect to hear about May meeting Y/N when you get here.”

            “You got it.”

 

                        Peter wrung his hands together before finally nodding to himself and walking into the living room. May was laying on the couch, a tattered copy of a book in her hand. It had been read so many times he couldn’t make out the name on the spine anymore, but the picture on the cover looked like the Three Musketeers.

            “Hey May, can I ask you something?”

           May set her book down in her lap and looked at Peter, who was setting himself down on the coffee table. She bit her tongue instead of fussing at him like she normally would. He looked like he had something important on his mind.

            “Anything, kiddo.”

           “How did you and Ben know you were in love?”

            May’s eyebrows jumped up on her forehead. Peter didn’t ask about Ben too often. Ben wasn’t taboo by any means, but she got the feeling that the more nostalgic Peter got, the sadder he felt, so Ben was never the main topic of conservation any more, usually an honourable mention at best.

            “You don’t have to answer if you don’t- “

            “No, I want to. I’m just a little surprised, Pete. What brought this on? Is this about Y/N?”

            Peter shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know. I almost told her that I love her earlier, and I don’t want to say it too soon, and how do I even know what love is? I’ve never been /in/ love before.”

            “What? What happened?”

           “She was nervous about meeting you, and I was trying to tell her that you would like her and I said that you would ‘lo-ike’ her as much as I do.”

            “Did she notice?”

           Peter tried to hide his grimacing smile. “She said that she ‘really lo-ikes’ me, too.”

            May laughed. “Smart woman, Y/N is.”

            “Yeah. Nothing gets past her.”

            May’s eyes widened. “Does that mean she knows about…?”

           “No. I’ve been careful. We’re not at that level. Yet. I mean, she just met you. I can only throw so much at her at once. And now Tony wants to meet her, and it’s all just happening so fast. I don’t want to scare her off by shoving all of this-“ Peter gestured at himself “-craziness at once. My life isn’t normal and so far she’s been taking it in strides. I got a black eye a few weeks ago and she didn’t freak out about it. May, she worries more than you do. That’s a really big deal for her. Especially when I told her that I ran into someone of a questionable character when I was taking pictures one night.”

            May quirked an eyebrow.

            “I know, I know, lying to my girlfriend it horrible, but I can’t just randomly say ‘hey, we’ve been dating for three months and I love you. Also, I’m Spider-man and Ironman wants to meet you because he’s kind of my superhero mentor and he made my suit. How does next Saturday work for you?’ That’s so not normal, May.”

            “Sweetie,” May reached out and took Peter’s hand, “you’ve never been normal. This family has never been normal. But that’s okay. Take it one step at a time. Stark can wait until you get the rest sorted out. You just can’t wait too long to tell her the truth.”

            “I know. But how do I know that I actually love her and it isn’t just like, puppy love or something?”

            May sat up and patted the couch next to her, not releasing Peter’s hand. Peter moved next to her.

            “We were a little bit younger than you when we met. We had a class together. Economics, maybe? It had maybe fifteen people in it, so we all knew each other. I hated him. He was too smart for his own good. Always answering questions before anyone else got a chance. Winking at me too often. He was obnoxious, and I avoided him at all costs.”

            “We had another class together the next semester. He came in the first day, and sat down next to me. I wasn’t about to move because I had gotten there early to pick out the best spot. A few weeks in he asked why I refused to talk to him when it wasn’t absolutely necessary. I told him that he was an arrogant know-it-all who was much too self-assured. I’d never said anything like that to someone before.”

            “Wait, Ben annoyed you? That doesn’t sound right.”

           “Believe it. We were first years, and he was trying to establish himself as smart and confident, but he did it in all the wrong ways.”

            “What did he say when you told him off?”   

            “He didn’t get to say anything. Class started. But the next week he came in, and sat down, and stuck his hand out. ‘Hi, I’m Ben Parker, and I believe we’ve met before, but I was a massive jerk and I’m very sorry about it. If it’s alright with you, I would love a second chance to prove I’m not an arrogant know-it-all.’” May smiled fondly. “I decided that if was a big enough person to do that, then he couldn’t be that bad deep down.”

            May stood and grabbed a photo album off the shelf. she flipped through it as she walked back. Peter leaned on her shoulder as she thumbed through the pages, muttering to herself.

            “Was that junior year? No, summer between…Damn him for not putting these in chronological order. How is anyone ever supposed to make sense of these? Ah! Here we go!”

            May pointed to a faded string of pictures taken in a photobooth at an arcade. May looked like she was trying her damnedest not to smile the first, but Ben was grinning and holding her close. The second had her fighting a smile. By the third she was grinning and looking at Ben, whose eyes were locked on the camera as he gave a wide smile, mouth hanging open, looking a little deranged. The fourth and final showed them both laughing, eyes scrunched shut, hold onto each other.

            “I have no idea what I was upset about. Probably a bad test grade or something, but he took me out to cheer me up, and I was determined that it wasn’t going to work. He insisted that we take pictures to commemorate the occasion so that I could never say he didn’t do something nice for me, and that when he did I didn’t fully appreciate it.” She chuckled. “He was being so silly that I laughed despite myself. He gave me the pictures and when I put them up on my fridge when I got home, I knew that I loved him in a I-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you kind of way and not a you’re-my-best-friend-and-I’ll-always-want-you-around kind way. Because when I look at these pictures my heart kind of… it swells and it feels like it should burst out of my chest. I have felt that every single time I’ve looked at these pictures from the very first time to now, and I don’t imagine that will ever change.”

            May looked at Peter, whose eyes were still locked on the pictures and how happy they looked in the last one.

            “If someone makes you feel like that, I’d wager you probably love them.”

            Peter nodded. “A couple weeks ago - after the convenience store incident - we were cuddling after dinner and she asked me to text when I got back from late night photography walks, because she wanted to know I was safe. She’s nearly gotten killed twice, and she’s worried about me, not herself. When I walk her home and we part ways, the last she says ‘let me know you get home safe.’ And she agreed to meet Ned spur of the moment, and she hates spontaneous things like that. And they really get along. She even suggested us all doing movie nights together. May, she just does so many things like that because she wants me to be safe and happy. She was so scared to meet you, but she did it anyway because she knew it was important to me.”

            Peter rested his head in his hands, elbows propped on his knees. “Ugh, May, she’s just so damn wonderful that half of the time I don’t think I can actually handle it.”

            May looked steadily at him, an eyebrow raised expectantly. Peter looked over at her slowly, jaw open.

            “I really do love her. May, I’m in love with her. But how do I tell her? How do I know the time is right?”

           “That one I can’t help you with, kiddo.”

            “I’ll figure it out. It’s gunna be romantic.”

            “You already have an idea?”

           “No. But it’s gunna be romantic if it’s the last thing I do.”

 

 

 

            Monthly Guys’ Weekend was one of Peter’s favorite nights. It was his and Ned’s chance to catch up, eat junk food, and play as many games as their hearts’ desired. Ned had filled Peter in on his graduate school applications, and how his current job was going. He was the head of the tech department at some firm, which wasn’t glamorous, but fresh out of college and heading a department was a huge deal. He also did some freelance IT on the side, and was always working on his own ideas. He didn’t mention anything about dating, and Peter wasn’t sure if it was because it wasn’t a priority at the moment, or because he hadn’t had much luck in that department since he split with his college girlfriend about a year earlier.

            Peter, on the other, almost exclusively talked about his love life.

            “Hold on here a second.” Ned paused the game right as Peter started falling off Rainbow Road, and they both set down their controllers. “Tony Stark wants to meet Y/N, because your excuse for not becoming an Avenger yet – this time – is that you want to see where this relationship goes. Meanwhile, she still doesn’t know that you’re Spider-man. You told her your ‘internship’ was no big deal and you just did some low-level tech stuff. But she has met May and they get along great. And you think you’re in love with her, but, like the Spider-man thing, haven’t told her? Am I all caught up now?”

            Peter rolled his lips inward and bit down on them, his eyebrows knot together in shame. Maybe he needed to make it a point to hang out with Ned more often. Or at least call and give him an update. That was a lot to throw at a person at once.

            “Um, yeah, that’s about right.”

            “Six months ago you had no girlfriend, no love to worry about, the people you’re with most knew about your secret, and now you’re keeping two things from Y/N? Plus you’re going to have to explain Tony Stark.”

            Even though the room was dark apart from the light of the screen and a lamp with a bulb that was too dim to do any good, Peter could tell that Ned was 1. Worried about him and 2. Glad that he wasn’t the one with the messed up love life. But hey, it wasn’t really all that bad if you broke it down.

“Okay, well, it sounds bad when you say it like that! I’m only actively hiding the Spider-man thing, and that’s partially because it could be dangerous if she knows. I’m going to tell her I love her. As soon as I know it won’t freak her out. I don’t know if we’re there yet. It’s barely been four months.”

            “Yeah. I’m dreading that the most.”

            “So you do plan on telling her about Spider-man?”

            “I mean, depending on how she reacts to me telling her I love her, yeah.”

            “Does this mean that she’s like, the One.”

            “Man, don’t say it like that. And I don’t know. I don’t even know if she loves me.”

            “We’ve been over this. She looks at you like you’re the only guy that matters. She met me and May in the same week. If her heart isn’t yours already, then it will be soon.”

            “You really think so?” His forehead crinkled. Ned was a great friend, great enough that he’d been willing to say that just to make him feel better – even if comfort wasn’t usually Ned’s strength.

            “I know so. You’re a lucky guy.”

            Peter smiled. “Thanks, Chair Guy.”

            “You’re welcome. Now, come on; we’ve still got one more lap.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally part of chapter 7 but it was way too long. I think it makes sense for the separation to be where it is, what do y'all think?
> 
> Once again, thank you all for reading, and please come talk to me! I love hearing from all of you! It makes my day. And if you would rather message me via tumblr you can find me on my writing blog @soimwritingstuff, or my main blog @the-smartass-under-the-mountain (just let me know you're referencing my AO3 bc sometimes I'm dense and don't make the connection)!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since Peter's decision he's been planning how to tell you, but sometimes things just slip out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tooth rotting fluff, but I don't think there's anything else that needs a warning?

Peter had been trying, and failing, to tell you that he loved you for nearly two weeks now. He wanted it to be like something out of a movie. Sweet, and romantic: a night you would never forget. He knew that you wouldn’t really care if it was romantic or not, as long as he was being honest, but he wanted it to be special for you, because you already put up with his late nights, and worried about him. If he was being totally honest with himself, he was hoping it might make up for his secret keeping, when he finally told you about Spider-Man.

            But he would rather think about making it romantic for you, rather than the fact that he would have to come clean, and that you might hate him for keeping the secret so long. He hadn’t bothered to consider that you might want to hear him out instead of throw him out. But he would rather think about making it romantic for you.

            One night he had let himself into your apartment – you had given him your keys because he was supposed to meet you there, and you knew he’d get there before you and you didn’t want him out in the chilly air so you’d given him your keys. He had set up candles and gotten you flowers, created a special playlist of soft romantic sounding music. You were supposed to get off at 5:30, and it would be perfect, because he was making pasta and it would be ready for when you got back at 6. You’d come in and be pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere, then that he fixed dinner for you, and then he’d tell you, and hopefully you would swoon and tell him you felt the same.

            Then he got a call at 5:05.

            “Hey, Peter, I’m so sorry. I have to finish something before I can leave tonight, and I thought I could get it done by ten after, but I think it’s going to take a lot longer than that. I might not get home til almost 8.”

            “Oh, man. That sucks.”  
            “Yeah. I was really looking forward to relaxing with you tonight, but even if I did leave, I’d have to do my work at home, and I would really prefer to not do that, you know?”

            “Yeah. Keep work and play separate.”

            “Yeah. So, you probably don’t want to wait around that long for me since you’re doing your photography tonight. Wanna do a rain check?”

            “Uh, yeah, that’s fine.”

            “Alright. How about Thursday? We could meet at that place over on 23rd?”

            “Perfect! I’ll see you then. I’ll give your keys to your neighbor across the hall when I leave.”

            “Uh, actually, could you give them to Mr. Flank instead? He’s to my right and a lot nicer.”

            “Sure thing.”

            Peter’s heart sank in chest. He repacked the candles, ate some pasta, boxed up the leftovers and put them in the fridge. After moving the flowers to the kitchen table, he wrote a short note to leave with them.

 

            _Sorry you had to work late. I missed you, but I’m looking forward to seeing you Thursday. There’s pasta in the fridge for you. Probably enough for two servings, so you don’t have to worry about fixing your lunch for tomorrow._

_XOXO,_

_Peter_

He had hesitated. Almost writing “Love, Peter” instead, but he wanted to say it in person, not write it in a note. Not the first time.

 

 

 

He had contemplated saying it on Thursday, but he also didn’t want to do it in public. It need to be private, personal, intimate. Plus, what if you didn’t feel the same and then you had to finish an awkward dinner?

 

 

 

            Saturday, you were going to get to see each other in the morning. There was a new place not far from his aunt’s that was supposed to have fantastic breakfast food, and you were meeting him and his aunt. That definitely wouldn’t be the right time, but he planned on taking you on a walk through the nearby park afterwards. He’d find a secluded spot – he already had a few in mind – and then tell you. That would be nice.

            The morning came and you all shared a terrific breakfast with fantastic food and better company. Peter was thrilled to see you laughing with May again. It was going according to plan – brilliantly according to plan. Breakfast was good, everyone was happy. She asked about Void, who you – mostly happily – reported to be living with your downstairs neighbors and their Dad had already texted you a picture of him playing with the kids and invited you to come over later for a visit, and so you could meet his husband. May was excited for you.

Afterwards May left to run some errands, and Peter took your hand and pulled you in the direction of the park, promising you that you would love it, and telling you about how he played there all the time as a kid.

            You spent a good half hour just wandering around, holding hands, either enjoying the silence or talking about nothing at all. Eventually he walked you over to a bench and put his arm around you. You had a good view of the playground in the distance, and a mostly flat field where some kids were playing soccer a bit closer. When he wrapped his arm around your shoulders, you leaned a little more against him. Cuddling like that in public wasn’t something you did often since neither of you were big on PDA, but it was nice.

            After a while, Peter readjusted and took your hand in his, fiddling with your fingers. You glanced over at him. He looked like he wanted to say something.

            “Is something wrong?”

            “No. No, not at all. I’m just really enjoying this.”

            “Me, too.”

            “Y/N?”

            “Hmm?”

            “I want to tell you that –“

            “HEADS UP!”

            The warning came too late. You felt a sharp pain at the base of your head.

            “Ah! What the…?”

            “Y/N! Are you okay?” Peter had your face cradled in his hands as he gently turned you so your back was to him. You were clutching the back of your head.

            “Ow, ow, ow. Something hit me.”

            A guy came running up while Peter examined the damage. He knelt down in front of you, a frisbee dangling from his hands, apologizing profusely, but with the throbbing pain it was hard to focus on exactly what he was saying.

            “It’s alright. It happens.”

            “Is there anything we can do for you? We feel horrible about this.”

            “Nah, I’m fine. Nothing a little aspirin won’t fix, right, Peter?”

            “Yeah. It looks a little red, might bruise, but I don’t think any permanent damage has been done.” He gently stroked the sore spot. His slightly cool hands felt good against the throbbing pain that was forming.

            Another guy and a girl came up. The girl handed Peter a water bottle, still dripping with condensation.

            “It’s not ice, but it’s the closest we could get.” She smiled apologetically.

            Peter mumbled a ‘thank you,’ and pressed it against your head/neck. You sighed in relief.

            “That’s fantastic; thank you.”

            After a few more reassurances that you would be fine and there were no hard feelings, they went on their way while you leaned against Peter. He still held the water bottle against your head, but it was starting to lose its effectiveness.

            “How are you feeling?” Peter’s voice was soft and soothing, and almost made you want to fell asleep, but the pounding in your head demanded too much attention for that.

            “It was better when the bottle felt cold. It’s throbbing a little.”

            “How about I take you back to my place? Get you inside with some ice and some pain medicine?”

            “That sounds perfect. Lead on.”

 

            Peter was a little mad at himself for that failed attempt. Normally he can tell when there is a flying projectile within ten feet of him – which is really handy as Spider-man – but apparently, he can’t even tell when a frisbee is going to attack his girlfriend. What good are superpowers if you can’t impress your girlfriend by blocking a frisbee?

            He was glad you were okay, but with your head hurting he gave up on telling you for the time being. Maybe next week he would have better luck.

 

 

 

            Next week he did not have better luck. Neither of you had a free night the entire week. Either you were working late, or he had patrol, or your friend was having a house warming, and another a birthday, one of his had a break up and needed consoling – it was just a busy week. When Friday came around, and you both had a free night – well, Peter just decided patrol would have to wait a few hours – Peter was excited to just _see_ you, much less _tell_ you.

            He had thought about taking you out to a nice dinner, candles and wine, getting dessert to go, going back to your apartment, and telling you over cheesecake and candle light. He hadn’t gotten a chance to tell you when you called him to ask if you could make it a casual night in, with sweat pants and pizza. You had sounded so tired on the phone that he couldn’t bear the thought of dragging you out when you clearly needed a night to relax, so he decided that he would plan it for the next week, smiled, and agreed.

 

 

 

            You threw open the door dramatically, smiling wide at Peter, or the pizza, and breadsticks in his hands, he wasn’t sure.

            “My hero! I’ve been sitting here, wasting away!” You laugh as you take the boxes out of Peter’s hands and take them into the living room, where plates and drinks are waiting.

            “Hello, it’s great to see you, too Y/N. I’m doing well, yourself?” Peter grinned at you when you stuck your tongue out at him.

            You stopped putting the pizza on the plates and flung yourself at him, making him stagger backwards from the sudden impact. Your arms were around his neck, face buried in his shoulder.

            “Hi, Peter.”

            He chuckled softly and hugged you back. “Hey, Y/N.”

            “I missed you this week.”

            “I missed you, too.”

            You pulled back. “Now can we eat? Seriously, I’m starving. I haven’t gone grocery shopping in like three weeks.”

            He nods and you hop over to serve the bread sticks and dipping sauce before plopping down on the couch. The TV had Teen Titans reruns playing.

            “Ned tried to make a reference the other day, but I didn’t get it. When I told him it had been years since I’d seen it, he claimed that was no excuse,” you explained. “We can turn it off or watch something else if you’re not in the mood for this.”

            “No, this is fine.” He joined you and took a sip of his drink. Once the commercials were on you leaned over just enough to nudge him and grab his attention.

            “How was your week. We haven’t seen each other and we’ve barely spoken. I feel like I’m watching TV with a stranger.”

            “It’s been busy, but nothing exciting has happened. Ned wants us to a movie night soon.”

            “Yeah, he told me.”

            “What do you mean he told you?”

            “We’ve been texting a lot recently.”

            “What?”

            “He got my number from your phone. Said he needed it ‘in case of an emergency,’ but his idea of an emergency is you not being available to talk nerd to. I apparently make a very good substitute in most cases.”

            “You sound way too pleased by that.”

            You shrugged, a self-satisfied smile making its way across your face, before picking up a new slice and taking a bite. Unfortunately for you, when you pulled away to chew, all the cheese decided it wanted to come, too. You gently pulled a little more, but only managed to stretch the cheese more, and put the cleanliness of your couch at risk. You made a whine of distress and tried to lean yourself and your pizza over the coffee table.

You look over at Peter, cheese still connecting you to your slice. Your face was hot embarrassment.

He had a dopey grin on his, chin resting on his propped hand. He shook his head gently and bit his lip to stop his grin from spreading. You were still fighting to separate yourself from the piece of pizza, without completely pulling all the cheese and toppings off. You eventually had to pull it apart with your fingers, and you still ended up getting some sauce on your top, and pizza grease smeared across your face.

            When you were done with your extremely complicated bite, you looked back up at Peter, whose expression hadn’t changed.

           “Couldn’t help a girl out?” You sat the plate down and grabbed some napkins in a vain attempt to clean yourself up.

            “Sorry, I was distracted by how cute you were being.”

            You shook your head in disbelief. “You’re crazy.”

            “Crazy in love with you.”

 

 

            _Oh, God. I just told my girlfriend I love her – that I’m IN love with her. Over pizza. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. What if she doesn’t love me back? What if she thinks I’m being condescending? I can’t read her face. Is she smiling? Or is she confused? Is that why her eyes are so wide? Or is she scared because we aren’t at the same place?_

 

 

            “You love me?” Your voice was soft. If you spoke louder, then you might wake up, it might turn out that this was a dream.

            Peter nodded, looking like he just swallowed a house and it got caught in his throat. “Yeah, I – I do. And if you’re, you know, if you’re not there yet, then that’s fine. I just…,” he looked down as his hands, “just wanted you to know.”

            “I love you, too.” You said in a whisper so soft that Peter wouldn’t have caught it if his hearing hadn’t improved drastically.

            His head snapped up in your direction, eyes wide, unable to stop the wide grin spreading across his face. He surged forward and kissed you, hard enough that you shrieked in surprise and fell back, but it didn’t stop you from returning the kiss with fervor. Peter’s arms wrapped around you and pressed you closer to him, like if you weren’t as close as physically possible then you might vanish. 

           You relished the feeling, your heart swelled, and... and. And you felt a little twinge of guilt. He just told you he loved you, and while you told him the same, you were still holding on to your suspicions. It was not the right way to start this new phase of your relationship. You placed your hand on his cheek and gently pushed him back and locked eyes with him. He was smiling so brightly, his eyes shining with joy. 

           "Peter, there's something else. Something I need to tell you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> This is as far as I have planned, and I know some things that I want to happen, but I do't know about when/order, so if you got ideas, or there's something you think would make a good addition, let me know and I'll see what I can do!
> 
> I love hearing from you all! seriously! I've been alone when planning and writing and editing and formating, so hearing from you all after posting and getting to share this with all of you is the best part and makes all the work worth it!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once one thing is said, others things also must come to light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think there are really any warnings for this chapter, but the reader is somewhat anxious/nervous
> 
> There is a POV swap from 2nd person to Peter's POV about halfway through, marked by the horizontal line.

        At the solemn tone in your voice, Peter moved off you and sat up, twisting his body so he was still looking at you. “Why does this sound really not good?”

        You sat up and twiddled with your fingers in your lap. “It’s not ‘not good,’ exactly. It’s … serious. If I’m right, that is. If I’m wrong, then this is all silly and I’ve made a fool out of myself, but since we’re being very open right now, I think I need to mention it.”

        “Okay?”

        You started to speak but cut yourself off. You tried three times without any sound coming out, and each time you thought better of your approach. Finally, you decided you needed to preface ‘do you swing around New York in spandex?’ with a short explanation.

        “I just need to know that you aren’t going to think I’m an idiot if I’m wrong. A lot of people would, which is why I haven’t mentioned it sooner than now and definitely not to anyone else. Because I know that this is really out there, and mostly circumstantial. I don’t exactly have proof or anything. Just too many coincidences and a hunch. You just have to know, before I say anything else, that I kept it a secret because it’s so far-fetched and not for some, I don’t know, sinister reason or anything. I wanted to have all the facts before I said anything and I don’t think I will get any more facts, or that I should go looking for them, because it’s not really my place to, you know? I didn’t even look in the first place. I just noticed some things and then thought about it a little too much, and here we are.”

        You finally stopped and looked at him. The worry was plain on your face: your eyes wide and forehead wrinkled and you were chewing on your lip like it would bring about world peace. You’d started waving your hands as you talked and nearly hit him in the face, not that you noticed because you were too busy freaking out on the inside.

        Peter smiled softly. If he hadn’t been so worried by how nervous you were, then he might have been amused by your rambling. He reached out and took your hands in his.

        “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to think you’re an idiot.”

        “And you won’t get mad for me not telling you sooner?”

        “I won’t be mad about that.”

        “Because, I promise I wasn’t trying to figure anything out. It happened by accident. And I could be wrong.”

        He nodded and stroked the backs of your hands with his thumbs. “It’s alright. I’ll just listen, and I won’t react until you’ve told me everything that you need to, okay?”

        His voice was gentle and soothing, but what really convinced you was the look in his eyes that told you he was worried and wanted to protect you. You nodded, relief that he was so understanding, and guilt that you had been keeping such a big secret overwhelming you. Unable to speak you threw your arms around his neck. There was a split second’s pause before you heard him let out a breathy chuckle and felt him return the hug.

        He rubbed your back, concern growing in the pit of his stomach. What could possibly have you so upset? What could make him mad at you?

        You breathed in deeply and let his touch ground you. It was going to be alright. Peter was a good person: he would understand. And if he didn’t, then who needed him? But he _would_ understand, so it wouldn’t come to that.

        When you pulled back, you looked determined. With a very small nod of your head and a deep breath, you started.

        “For the record, if I’m right, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

        You waited, and he nodded that he understood.

        “I just can’t help but notice a few things. And not all of them are important, but let’s just go chronologically anyway, okay?”

        Another nod.

        “Well, remember on our first date, I told you that Spider-man saved me from getting mugged? He walked me home and he talked the whole time, about random stuff, I think he was trying to keep me from being scared, but anyway, he kept talking about his favorite show…” you swallowed the lump in your throat, “which I later found out is also your favorite show, and you both watch it late at night when you can’t sleep because you don’t have free time, really. Which can be said for a lot of people.

        “But then there were other things that definitely stuck out a bit more. My second encounter with Spider-man, when I got Void, he took me out of the store first and said he wanted to make sure I was safe. Then he said something about Void, that it could die and he didn’t want me to get hurt _again_. And he shouldn’t have known that I rescued a cat before, and that it died. And then I made him pet Void and he was genuinely shocked that it didn’t bite him. And when I had you pet him, not only did you pet him in the exact same way, but you were also surprised that he liked you.

        “And that by itself isn’t a big deal. Lots of people will admit that they don’t get along with cats. Lots of people rub cats at the base of the neck. Lots of people watch the same show late at night because they can’t sleep. Lots of people have similar height and build. But if a person already sees all those connections between two individuals then it’s not a far fetch to think that they sound similar, too.

        “And I know: that’s a lot of coincidences and none of it really means much of anything. But you’re out a lot at night taking pictures, which is really risky, and if you were – Heaven forbid – ever injured then that’s just a little… convenient if everything else actually means something.”

        You paused, searching Peter’s face for a reaction of any sort. He looked blank, like whatever reaction he was having he was trying to hide for your benefit, which wasn’t comforting by any means. What would comfort you was a mystery: you weren’t sure if you wanted him to tell you it was ridiculous or confess that he was the masked webslinger.

        “Let me get this straight, you think I’m Spider-man?”

        “It just sorta made sense in my head. It’s silly out loud, right?”

        “I mean, it is really circumstantial.” His voice was neutral, and his eyes weren’t seeing you as the wheels turned in his head.

        “I know, which is why I thought I was going crazy. The only thing that really truly makes me wonder, because I can forget everything else ‘cause it’s so out there, is how Spider-man _knew_ about the first cat I rescued, and that he seemed so worried about it. And he dragged me out of the convenience store first, before anyone else.”

 

* * *

 

 

        I rolled my lips inward as I thought, definitely panicking at this point. If I tell her, then I put her at risk. If I don’t, then I’m lying to her, and I can’t lie to the woman I just said ‘I love you’ to, it isn’t right.

        I heard her softly repeating that I didn’t have to say anything if I didn’t want to, that she just wanted to get it off her chest and I wasn’t obligated to do anything about it. But I needed to. Tony’s voice was bouncing around in my head, like an annoying Jiminy Cricket, that if I’m serious about this, then I have to tell her eventually. And if I have the opportunity to tell her and don’t, then later if I ever decide to tell her, or she finds out like Ned did, she might hate me for it, especially if I end up joining the Avengers…

        “It’s not silly. And you’re not an idiot.”

        Her eyes widened as my words sunk in, but I knew she’d want to hear me actually say it out loud.

        “I’m Spider-man.”

        There was a moment of deafening silence before I heard, very softy: “I’m not crazy.”

        “You’re definitely not crazy.” I was almost giggling with relief that her biggest concern was her own sanity.

        “And I’m dating Spider-man.”

        “Uh, yeah.”

        “Holy fuck.” Her eyes weren’t focused on me anymore, and I could see her trying to fully process what she was hearing.

        “Are, are you okay? Do I need to get you a glass of water or something?”

        “I’m good, that’s just… I thought you were going to call me crazy and break up with me, but I was actually right, and like… I don’t even guess movie plots because I don’t like being an idiot who couldn’t even figure out the not-so-twist ending. This is a lot to process.”

        I nodded. “Yeah. Ned found out by accident.”

        “How’d he handle it?”

        “He blurted out that I ‘knew’ Spider-man in the middle of gym class when a cute older girl said she was crushing on him. It was mortifying.”

        “The senior you went to the dance with?”    

        “Yeah.”

        She shrugged. “Could have been worse. I mean, you could have not gone out with a senior.”

        “So, is this… are you okay with that?” I waved my hands in front of myself.

        “What? With you being a superhero who saves people on a nightly basis? Yeah. I think I can handle that.” She was smiling, grinning from ear to ear like she was the happiest person alive.

        “And the late nights and the cancelled dates and the bruises and the other superheroes and the questionable legality of it all?” It was definitely my turn to freak out.

        “Well, the law is far from perfect anyway, so that isn’t really an issue for me. It’s not like you’ve cancelled many dates anyway, and now we can schedule them around your patrol. Look, no matter what, I’m always going to worry about you when I know you’re out in the city late at night, but at least I know that you’re making a difference, not just taking pictures.”

        “I thought you liked my photography.”

        “I do; I think it’s great, but what Spider-man does is a little more noble than the quest for a cool nighttime photo.”

        “You think it’s noble?”

        “Of course I do. You’re putting the safety and well-being of others above your own comfort. I’ve seen the videos, Peter. The amount of good you do can’t be measured.”

        “Thanks. I just, I always just thought of it as what people with … _abilities_ are supposed to do.”

        “I think you go above and beyond. And anyway, haven’t you noticed that guys in spandex are the new knights in shining armor?”

        “I… well, um, it’s not really spandex, it’s this really cool-”

        “Peter?”

        “Yeah?”

        “I promise, I really do want to hear about the special material your suit is made of, and anything and everything else you want to tell me, but generally, when someone likens you to a knight, it’s your cue to kiss them.”

        “Oh.” I grinned and leaned forward until there was no space between us, and rested a hand on her knee as I kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and I thought I would burst from happiness.

        It was a great moment, a great kiss. Passionate and soft, and it felt like everything was right in the world. We were in love - had said that we were both in love. We didn’t have any secrets anymore. There was nothing that we couldn’t accept about each other.

        Wait.

        I pulled back reluctantly. “Hey, um, quick question?”

        “Shoot.”

        “If I told you that my internship with Tony Stark was a cover for being Spider-man so he could mentor me and keep an on me while I was still a kid and that since then we’ve kept in touch and a few weeks ago he found out about you and wants to meet you, what would you say?”

        I cringed on the inside. That was a hell of an info dump after an evening of info dumping. Was this going to be what broke the camel’s back?

        “Tony Stark what now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what y'all think! Thank you all for your kudos and comments!!!

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to be five parts, but it has escaped me, so I'm not sure how long it will be. This is also posted on tumblr @soimwritingstuff.
> 
> Thank you for all of your kudos and comments! They mean the world to me!


End file.
